Royal Bank of Canada Raises Stock Holdings in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Graco Inc. (NYSE:GGG) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 326,104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,737 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Graco were worth $27,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Port Capital LLC lifted its position in Graco by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 791,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,735,000 after buying an additional 8,250 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graco by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 411,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,681,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Graco by 54.1% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 35,335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,978,000 after buying an additional 12,412 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Graco during the fourth quarter worth about $1,889,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Graco by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 7,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. 93.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, DA Davidson set a $85.00 target price on Graco in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David J. Thompson sold 3,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.23, for a total value of $309,393.24. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,520 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,373,049.60. This trade represents a 11.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Graco Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE:GGG opened at $83.63 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.66. Graco Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.06 and a 52 week high of $92.86. The company has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Graco (NYSE:GGG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.02. Graco had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 23.00%. The company had revenue of $528.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $526.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Graco’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graco Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graco Profile

Graco Inc designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; two-component proportioning systems that are used to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors.